Factor XIa is a plasma serine protease involved in the regulation of blood coagulation. While blood coagulation is a necessary and important part of the regulation of an organism's homeostasis, abnormal blood coagulation can also have deleterious effects. For instance, thrombosis is the formation or presence of a blood clot inside a blood vessel or cavity of the heart. Such a blood clot can lodge in a blood vessel blocking circulation and inducing a heart attack or stroke. Thromboembolic disorders are the largest cause of mortality and disability in the industrialized world.
Blood coagulation is initiated in vivo by the binding of tissue factor (TF) to Factor VII (FVII) to generate Factor VIIa (FVIIa). The resulting TF:FVIIa complex activates Factor IX (FIX) and Factor X (FX) which leads to the production of Factor Xa (FXa). The FXa that is generated catalyzes the transformation of prothrombin into small amounts of thrombin before this pathway is shut down by tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI). The process of coagulation is then further propagated via the feedback activation of Factors V, VIII and XI by catalytic amounts of thrombin. (Walsh, P. N. Thromb. Haemostasis. 1999, 82, 234-242.) Factor XIa plays a key role in propagating this amplification loop and is thus an attractive target for anti-thrombotic therapy.
An alternative way of initiation of coagulation is operative when blood is exposed to artificial surfaces (e.g., during hemodialysis, ‘on-pump’ cardiovascular surgery, vessel grafts, bacterial sepsis). This process is also termed contact activation. Surface absorption of factor XII leads to a conformational change in the factor XII molecule, thereby facilitating activation to proteolytic active factor XII molecules (factor XIIa and factor XIIf). Factor XIIa (or XIIf) has a number of target proteins, including plasma prekallikrein and factor XI. Active plasma kallikrein further activates factor XII, leading to an amplification of contact activation. Activated FXI acts on FIX, which acts through the coagulation cascade to produce thrombin. Thus, inhibitors of plasma kallikrein would be expected to exert an antithrombotic effect under conditions of contact activation. Contact activation is a surface mediated process responsible in part for the regulation of thrombosis and inflammation, and is mediated, at least in part, by fibrinolytic-, complement-, kininogen/kinin-, and other humoral and cellular pathways (for review, Coleman, R. Contact Activation Pathway, pages 103-122 in Hemostasis and Thrombosis, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2001; Schmaier A. H. Contact Activation, pages 105-128 in Thrombosis and Hemorrhage, 1998).
Factor XI is a zymogen of a trypsin-like serine protease and is present in plasma at a relatively low concentration. Proteolytic activation at an internal R369-I370 bond yields a heavy chain (369 amino acids) and a light chain (238 amino acids). The latter contains a typical trypsin-like catalytic triad (H413, D464, and S557). Activation of factor XI by thrombin is believed to occur on negatively charged surfaces, most likely on the surface of activated platelets. Platelets contain high affinity (0.8 nM) specific sites (130-500/platelet) for activated factor XI. After activation, factor XIa remains surface bound and recognizes factor IX as its normal macromolecular substrate. (Galiani, D. Trends Cardiovasc. Med. 2000, 10, 198-204.)
In addition to the feedback activation mechanisms described above, thrombin activates thrombin activated fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), a plasma carboxypeptidase that cleaves C-terminal lysine and arginine residues on fibrin, reducing the ability of fibrin to enhance tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) dependent plasminogen activation. In the presence of antibodies to FXIa, clot lysis can occur more rapidly independent of plasma TAFI concentration. (Bouma, B. N. et al. Thromb. Res. 2001, 101, 329-354.) Thus, inhibitors of factor XIa are expected to be anticoagulant and profibrinolytic.
Genetic evidence indicates that factor XI is not required for normal homeostasis, implying a superior safety profile of the factor XI mechanism compared to competing antithrombotic mechanisms. In contrast to hemophilia A (factor VIII deficiency) or hemophilia B (factor IX deficiency), mutations of the factor XI gene causing factor XI deficiency (hemophilia C) result in only a mild to moderate bleeding diathesis characterized primarily by postoperative or posttraumatic, but rarely spontaneous hemorrhage. Postoperative bleeding occurs mostly in tissue with high concentrations of endogenous fibrinolytic activity (e.g., oral cavity, and urogenital system). The majority of the cases are fortuitously identified by preoperative prolongation of APTT (intrinsic system) without any prior bleeding history.
The increased safety of inhibition of XIa as an anticoagulation therapy is further supported by the fact that Factor XI knock-out mice, which have no detectable factor XI protein, undergo normal development, and have a normal life span. No evidence for spontaneous bleeding has been noted. The APTT (intrinsic system) is prolonged in a gene dose-dependent fashion. Interestingly, even after severe stimulation of the coagulation system (tail transection), the bleeding time is not significantly prolonged compared to wild-type and heterozygous litter mates. (Gailani, D. Frontiers in Bioscience 2001, 6, 201-207; Gailani, D. et al. Blood Coagulation and Fibrinolysis 1997, 8, 134-144.) Taken together, these observations suggest that high levels of inhibition of factor XIa should be well tolerated. This is in contrast to gene targeting experiments with other coagulation factors.
In vivo activation of factor XI can be determined by complex formation with either C1 inhibitor or alpha 1 antitrypsin. In a study of 50 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), approximately 25% of the patients had values above the upper normal range of the complex ELISA. This study can be viewed as evidence that at least in a subpopulation of patients with AMI, factor XI activation contributes to thrombin formation (Minnema, M. C. et al. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 2000, 20, 2489-2493). A second study establishes a positive correlation between the extent of coronary arteriosclerosis and factor XIa in complex with alpha 1 antitrypsin (Murakami, T. et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1995, 15, 1107-1113.). In another study, Factor XI levels above the 90th percentile in patients were associated with a 2.2-fold increased risk for venous thrombosis (Meijers, J. C. M. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 2000, 342, 696-701.).
Plasma kallikrein is a zymogen of a trypsin-like serine protease and is present in plasma at 35 to 50 μg/mL. The gene structure is similar to that of factor XI. Overall, the amino acid sequence of plasma kallikrein has 58% homology to factor XI. Proteolytic activation by factor XIIa at an internal I 389-R390 bond yields a heavy chain (371 amino acids) and a light chain (248 amino acids). The active site of kallikrein is contained in the light chain. The light chain of plasma kallikrein reacts with protease inhibitors, including alpha 2 macroglobulin and C1-inhibitor. Interestingly, heparin significantly accelerates the inhibition of plasma kallikrein by antithrombin III in the presence of high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK). In blood, the majority of plasma kallikrein circulates in complex with HMWK. Kallikrein cleaves HMWK to liberate bradykinin. Bradykinin release results in increase of vascular permeability and vasodilation (for review, Coleman, R. Contact Activation Pathway, pages 103-122 in Hemostasis and Thrombosis, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2001; Schmaier A. H. Contact Activation, pages 105-128 in Thrombosis and Hemorrhage, 1998).
Proteins or peptides that reportedly inhibit Factor XIa are disclosed in WO 01/27079. There are advantages in using small organic compounds, however, in preparing pharmaceuticals, e.g., small compounds generally have better oral bioavailability and compatibility in making formulations to aid in delivery of the drug as compared with large proteins or peptides. Small molecule inhibitors of Factor XIa are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publications US20040235847A1, US20040220206A1, and US20050228000A1, U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 11/151,627, and 11/151,667.
In addition, it is also desirable to find new compounds with improved pharmacological characteristics compared with known serine protease inhibitors. For example, it is preferred to find new compounds with improved factor XIa inhibitory activity and selectivity for factor XIa versus other serine proteases. Also, it is preferred to find new compounds with improved plasma kallikrein inhibitory activity and selectivity for plasma kallikrein versus other serine proteases. Also, it is preferred to find new compounds with improved activity in in vitro clotting assays, such as the prothrombin time (PT) assay or activated partial thromboplastin time assay (APTT) (for a description of the PT and APTT assays see, Goodnight, S. H.; Hathaway, W. E. Screening Tests of Hemostasis. Disorders of Thrombosis and Hemostasis: a clinical guide, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill: New York, 2001 pp. 41-51). It is also desirable and preferable to find compounds with advantageous and improved characteristics in one or more of the following categories, which are given as examples and are not intended to be limiting: (a) pharmaceutical properties; (b) dosage requirements; (c) factors which decrease blood concentration peak-to-trough characteristics; (d) factors that increase the concentration of active drug at the receptor; (e) factors that decrease the liability for clinical drug-drug interactions; (f) factors that decrease the potential for adverse side-effects; and (g) factors that improve manufacturing costs or feasibility.